Shoppers scramble for deals as Black Friday gets a Thursday start

Thursday

Nov 22, 2012 at 10:56 PM

Target beefed up its staff, with a total of 320 employees on hand Thursday night.

By Adam WagnerAdam.Wagner@StarNewsOnline.com

If you listened closely enough Thursday, the ringing of cash registers at Wilmington stores vaguely resembled sleigh bells, kicking off the holiday shopping season.Retailers such as Target, Toys"R"Us and Walmart opened their doors on Thanksgiving, giving shoppers a chance to get an early start on Black Friday.Katrina Davis arrived at the Target on New Centre Drive at 2 p.m. Thursday after eating dinner with her family, hunting for a Nook and an XBox.Despite being accompanied for part of the day by her 10-year-old daughter Katriah and her cousin, Davis said there were some downsides to spending much of Thanksgiving in a line."I missed spending time with my family today," Davis said. "And I'm hungry."Davis, who came with a blanket, a chair and drinks and had her sister bring food around 5 p.m., was better prepared than some shoppers.At the Toys"R"Us on Oleander Drive, people standing in line tilted shopping carts making up the queue onto their sides and used them as chairs.Lindsay Strickland, who was in the Toys "R"Us line for a train table for her 2-year-old son, said she had never taken advantage of Black Friday sales before, but would now because of her son.When asked why she'd avoided the shopping holiday before this year, Strickland gestured to the line and said, "Because look at this!"Strickland was joined by her mother, Beverly Boswell, and her friend, Fallon Addair.Addair, a Black Friday veteran, said she doesn't necessarily believe in starting the annual shopping holiday as early as Thursday evening."It kind of takes the fun out of getting up (for Black Friday)," she said. "... You get that adrenaline rush from going out (early)."Matt Merritt, Target's manager, said the store usually does three or four Fridays worth of business during Black Friday hours.Target beefed up its staff, with a total of 320 employees on hand Thursday night. The store took other actions to keep people moving, particularly with larger items such as TVs."We've got the biggest ones on buggies so they can roll them right to checkout," Merritt said before the store opened.While some shoppers might have preferred to do their shopping from the comfort of home, the spectacle is part of the Black Friday experience for Davis."Shopping online is no fun," she said. "I just like to be out here and see people."After succeeding in finding her two XBoxes, an extra controller, a Nook and a case for the Nook, Davis said the flood of people entering the store was extremely hectic."Oh my God, it was crazy," Davis, who began and ended her night at Target, said. "... I was running in there like a mad woman because they told me the wrong directions, and I was trying to get the Nook before it was sold out."Nevertheless, after beginning to sit in line at 2 p.m., Davis was back home by 10 p.m.

On Twitter: @AdamWagner1990

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